Sharks prop Eugene van Staden is back in training with the Sharks in Durban, after an off-season loan move that saw him play for Biarritz Olympique in South-West France.

The burly front-ranker, who represented Montepellier in the French league for 3 seasons before joining the Sharks, left for France shortly after the Currie Cup final last year to provide emergency front-row cover after Eduard Coetzee (another former Shark) was forced into early retirement. Speculation was rife at the time that the move may be a permanent one, but our information was always that van Staden would return to the Sharks in time for pre-season training this month.

Despite playing his last match for Biarritz on Saturday, van Staden flew back to Durban on Tuesday and got straight back into the action yesterday morning, confirming to Sharksworld that he “had a bit of a sweat with the boys” and that it was great to be back.

The Sharks are well covered in terms of front row options for the season, with Beast Mtawarira, Jannie du Plessis, van Staden, Wiehahn Herbst, Dale Chadwick and Julian Redelinghuys all in the picture for Super Rugby selection.

This guy is a real troop…sorta bloke you want in the trenches with you. having him around is a breath of fresh air. he is also a pretty nifty carrier of the ball and his is alot more mobile than u would expect

Comment 11, posted at 06.01.12 12:20:02 by The Duke

@robdylan (Comment 3) : On a very basic level, the Sharks biggest problem in SupeRugby 2011 was that there was not near enough rotation. Lessons must be learned, and starting every game with Beast, Bissie and Jannie is not going to be effective. The season is even longer this year, and we saw players like Bissie and Alberts break down toward the end of last season. This is nothing like the Super 12 or 14 were, this new format has changed how a squad should approach the season. Everyone was talking about how tainted Alberts looked toward the end of last SupeRugby season.

I have been away for a while, and partially because I grew tired of reading the same negativity after the season. I honestly could not believe how negative so many were about a playoff appearance in SupeRugby and a second place on the CC log and finals appearance. We have superb talent in the Sharks, we have the player personnel to be incredibly effective in both SupeRugby and CC. If we learn from our few failures last season, like player rotation, we can once again go far, but our approach to playing the 2012 SupeRugby competition has to be different, and I hope enlightened. I have plenty ideas, but that is not important, it is the ideas the coaching and management staff can come up with.

@Dancing Bear (Comment 12) : This lack of rotation was already a problem in 2009 and it did not look like any lessons have been learnt. I am with you that the Sharks did not have a bad 2010 results wise but often their wins were pretty ugly. I just feel they have much more potential.

Comment 15, posted at 08.01.12 13:03:37 by rekinek

@Culling Song (Comment 13) : House is fixed, thanks for asking but now I am looking for a job….

Comment 16, posted at 09.01.12 04:29:58 by Dancing Bear

@rekinek (Comment 15) : I should have said that since lessons clearly seem not to have been learned, perhaps a novel, intelligent and (most importantly) different approach to this new format of the SupeRugby season is the way to go.

@robdylan (Comment 6) : hey Rob any news on the new jersey for 2012? I saw the Bulls jersey…kakkaka….I wish we had adidas as a sharks sponsor…Reebok sucks!! And Maxed also is a stupid clothing sponser…I will play Golf in a sharks Adidas Golf Shirt…but a sharks Maxed, eikona bud.

No sorry boys, I hope we get a replacement for reebok soon…maxed as a silver sponcer no worries…but a reebok jersey…don’t like…

Comment 22, posted at 09.01.12 08:50:48 by BoerSeun

@robdylan (Comment 20) : I dont really have issues with Maxed, Reebok or Mr Price, but some of the Sharks branded clothing is below standard, especially the Sharkie logo.

Comment 23, posted at 09.01.12 09:02:36 by JarsonX

@robdylan (Comment 20) : me too! Branding is all in the mind – my aunt is an exporter for a majour Italian brand in Italy trust me its all made in China by the same companies that sell the R100 dress in your local chinese shop!